Disclaimer: I do not own "Lilo & Stitch" or any of the characters therein. Except Leera. And a certain meega na la queeshta whom I need not mention by name (cue booing).

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
LEERA, THEN AND NOW

Twilight fell over Iyerba in shades of neon pink, while Nimh, the smallest moon, began to rise up beside its larger siblings. Greenish clouds lay scattered near the horizon, their underbellies glowing gold in the last light of the second sun. Two Splorgnarians sat snuggling beneath a tree on a little hill, taking in the whole scene. The purple, tear-shaped leaves hung low on willowy branches, concealing the young lovers from prying eyes. With a blanket wrapped around them both, and a promising future before them, they were in Heaven. For many minutes they watched the sunset in silence, all the while taking pleasure in each other's warmth in the cool of evening. As the second sun disappeared below the horizon, the girl turned to her beau and whispered, "Wendy, are you still awake?"

Slowly, the young man turned to face her. "Of course. I'm not THAT tired, you know."

"Good. But it was a pretty hectic day, you hafta admit."

"Sure was," he yawned, stretching his arms out and draping one around her shoulders, pulling her close.

"'Course, it was nothing compared to what our honeymoon is gonna be like," she told him, giving him a playful nudge. At this, he tensed slightly. She noticed, and frowned.

"What's the matter? You're not getting cold feet, are you? Remember, you asked ME to marry YOU, not the other way around!"

"Yes, but YOU were the one who asked ME out on a date! Remember that? If you had never asked, we wouldn't be here right now discussing this."

"You mean, you would never have asked me out?" she demanded.

"Most likely not," he replied, and, sensing that he might have offended her, added, "The thought never really crossed my mind. You were my friend, Leera. My best friend, even, but it never occurred to me to ask you out because I didn't even know I was in love with you until…"

"Until I confessed I was in love with YOU," she finished for him, grinning. Wendy nodded. "Well, yeah! And besides, I was never very successful with women. You know that." he added sheepishly. Leera leaned against him, nuzzling her head under his chin.

"Well, you're doing fine now," she purred. "At any rate, you're a million times the man my last was."

Again, Wendy tensed. "You mean Le'Kruune?"

At the mentioning of that name, Leera shuddered. Wendy reached a hand up to stroke her long blonde hair. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "That meega na la queeshta… I swear I'm going to KILL him for what he did to you."

With his other hand, he lifted her chin up so that she was looking him in the eye. In her own eye stood the glimmer of a tear. Mentally, Wendy cursed himself. God, why did I bring that up? Now she's hurting again. If only I could make the pain go away…

"I love you, Leera. More than infinity, and longer than eternity. And I promise I will never let anyone hurt you ever again. I would rather die a thousand agonizing deaths than let anything happen to you. Remember that always."

At his heartfelt words, Leera broke down, sobbing. Wendy was shocked. Never, in all the years he'd known her, (and he had known her since their equivalent of kindergarten), had he seen her cry. Not even when she hurt herself roughhousing with the other kids. She had always been one of the toughest people he knew, even more so than most men. And now, to see her sobbing so painfully, put a lightning-hot dagger in his heart. It had been amazing enough that she had lasted this long… even unsettling. She had never even spoken of her brutal rape until very recently, and it had happened nearly three years earlier. For most of that time, however, she had been absent from Iyerba, their home planet, serving a sort of internship on Federation missions as training to become an agent. Then she had been abducted by the Kaizaxx and, along with a handful of other female Federation employees, had been brutally assaulted and left for dead on a nearby desert planet. Unlike the half-attempts at being a charismatic playboy he had used with Vay, Le'Kruune had shown no mercy whatever toward Leera and her colleagues. Like a primitive beast driven by libido, he had robbed her of her virginity, and for that, Wendy wanted nothing more than to personally see to his slow and agonizing demise. The thing that had seen Leera through all this time had been a single determined philosophy: She would not let Le'Kruune get away with it, either. And not just because of what he had done to HER, but for the hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals whose lives had been forever altered by his actions. To give in to the desire to kill herself would only be strengthening his impact on the universe, would be admitting defeat… and she could never allow that, no matter what.

* * * *

Two hours later, the two were finishing supper. Wendy had invited Leera back to his home that evening and made her a delicious meal, hoping to take her mind off the past. In no time at all, it seemed to have worked: Leera stopped crying and was soon laughing happily over pleasanter memories.

"You remember when we were fifteen and you asked me 'What's a dickfor?'" She grinned wickedly at Wendy, who blushed red and rolled his eye. The two were sitting on the sofa.

"Yes, I remember," he muttered, "because your answer was one I'll never forget!" He gave her a screwed-up look that said he didn't know whether to laugh or curse. "You asked me what I thought it was for…"

"But you still didn't get it, so I told you…"

"…To come on over to your place and you'd give me a private demonstration!"

"And you STILL didn't get it!" Leera laughed loudly. Wendy blushed even redder. "I finally did after you pushed me down on your bed and climbed on top of me!" He smirked, fighting down a chuckle. Leera laughed all the harder.

"God, you should have seen the look on your face! Your eye was about ready to pop out of your head! You were terrified!!!"

Here Wendy made an attempt to look dignified. "Yes, well, you WERE pretty terrifying, I must say. That maniacal look in your own eye… I almost thought you were gonna devour me or something."

"It's called lust, baby," Leera purred.

"I know that NOW," Wendy conceded, smiling. "But just for the record, you did come across a little too strong, even if you didn't intend to actually DO anything."

"Oh, but I DID," she said seductively, wrapping an arm around him. "That's WHY I came across so strong. I knew you were too timid to come to me willingly, so what else could I do? Wait another twenty or thirty years for you to come around? I don't think so."

"You mean you had a crush on me back THEN?!!" Wendy looked shocked. Leera merely smiled. "I always have," she confessed, pulling him close.

"Well, you sure had funny ways of showing it," Wendy mumbled, half complaining, half teasing.

"Like what?"

"Like wrestling me to the ground and sitting on me until Mom came looking for me. Then you were the picture of innocence when she came along. You were lucky I never told her about that. She's always been very fond of you."

"And I her," Leera admitted. "We have a lot in common, and that helps."

Wendy merely nodded, wondering just how much that statement had implied. It was surprisingly easy for Leera to talk about her past, but if anyone else brought it up, she would become tense and anxious, and quickly try to change the subject.

"I gotta admit, you sure knew how to keep the bullies at bay," Wendy said. "All you had to do was say 'Back off! He's with ME!' and they'd leave me alone. 'Course, YOU more than made up for all the guys that used to pick on me by doing their job yourself."

Leera giggled. "And I still do!"

And without warning, she pounced. They wrestled and tickled each other for several minutes, happily reliving their childhood. After a while, though, they grew breathless. Leera had Wendy in a half nelson, but he managed to wriggle out of her grasp, then flipped around to grab hold of her again, but she jumped back, leaning away from him on one foot. She lost her balance, and fell back down onto the couch. She flung her arms out and brought Wendy down with her. For a minute or two, they lay there on the couch, both trying to catch their breath. Noticing the position they were in, Leera smiled coyly and said, "As much as I enjoy having you on top of me, I'm going to have to ask you to get off, unless you plan on making love to me while you're up there."

Wendy gulped, returning her smile as he sat up. Leera sat up, too, looking thoroughly disappointed. A split second later she threw herself on him again, knocking him over onto his back on the opposite side of the couch. She sat on top of him, straddling his waist. He stared up at her in shock.

"Now, then, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way," she told him with an evil grin. "It's your choice."

"W-what's the hard way?" he asked timidly.

"The hard way is with ME on top, and you on the bottom. You know it's not nearly as much fun that way. So why don't we roll over and try this again?"

"I-I'm really not very much in the mood right now," Wendy protested, beginning to feel a warm tingling where she sat on him.

"Oh, don't worry… I can fix that," she purred, kissing him deeply. She rolled over onto her back, pulling him along with her so that he was once again lying on top of her. He gasped, then tried to push himself back up. She threw her arms around his neck, holding him firmly so that he couldn't escape. He felt her legs brush against his own as they moved to allow him access. This time Wendy could not deny his arousal, and moved his own legs to expose himself to her. In an entanglement of lips and limbs, the two lovers melted into each other, exchanging far more than their physical beings could allow. Even in sleep, they did not separate. This was bliss. Yet little did Wendy Pleakley know that this would be the last night he would ever spend with his darling Leera, for just three days later, he found her suicide note.

* * * *

"So that's Earth, is it? The one with all the blue and white?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"And that's where HE is…"

"Indeed so."

"Well - thank you for showing it to me. It looks like a very beautiful planet. I hope he's happy there."

"Last I heard, he is."

"That's good."

Silence and a sigh.

"Ma'am?"

"Hm?"

"He hasn't forgotten you, if that's what you're wondering about."

"Oh! Well, actually, I was thinking about all that water. I've never seen a planet with so much water and so little land mass… except maybe Quinta, but that planet's much larger than this one is."

"Uh-huh. That's not all you were thinking. I know that look in your eye. You miss him."

"That's enough, Lieutenant. I called you up to help me locate Earth, and you did. Don't overstep your bounds here. I know where Wendy is now, and I know he's safe, and that's more than enough for me. But I am dead to him, and that is how I will remain."

"But, ma'am -"

"THANK you, Lieutenant. You're dismissed."

A staunch salute.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Please, call me by my first name. My REAL name. I haven't heard it uttered in so long, I fear I will forget who I really am, or, who I was. So from now on, just call me Leera, 'kay?"

A second salute.

"Yes, ma'am."